OLIVER: Templeton because he was sneaky. CLEMENTINE: The duckling because it didn’t follow its mother. [from the film, not the book] PARIS: Templeton because he was sly. SAMIA: The goose and Templeton because they’re both funny. MAEVE: Charlotte because she was loyal and kind. PATRICK: The goose because it kept on repeating words. JACK: Templeton because he’s funny. RJ: Templeton. LEX: The baby spiders. What message do you get from this book? RAPHY: Even though you’re different, you can still be friends. MIKHAIL: I learned new words like gullible. ANAY: How to write words. MAEVE: Sometimes bad things happen but there’s always someone who can fix them up. LUKE: Charlotte loves Wilbur and saves Wilbur’s life. SAMIA: That friendship can be a powerful thing. MADDY: If you care for someone it’s like you’re a family. RJ: It’s about being better friends. SCARLET: Spiders have a long and short life. HANNAH: To care about people. Did you enjoy the book more than the movie? Why or why not? MIKAELA: Yes, because when you read the book you can imagine the characters. CHRISTIAN: The book explains more but the movie is way better after the book. ARIANNE: I enjoyed the book more than the movie because it told you more parts and I could imagine more at the same time. GRETA: I enjoyed the book more than the movie because you get to imagine the characters. SAMSON: There’s more detail in the book because in the movie they leave out parts and add in new bits. PATRICK: I liked the book more because it explained more words and characters. PARIS: I enjoyed the book better because you can imagine. GABRIELLA: I like the movie because it shows lots of pictures but the book tells you more infor mation. MAEVE: I enjoyed the book more than the movie because it was more detailed. SAMIA: The book, because it has more effort put into it and the author had to think of Charlotte before writing the book. LEX: I enjoyed the movie because it shows the pictures in colour. Do you recommend this book? Who do you think would enjoy this story? GABRIELLA: I recommend this book to people from 6 to 10 and from 30 to 80. GRETA: I think this is a very good book. I think all ages except for teenagers. JORDAN: I think this book is for 6 to 10 year olds. LEX: My sister Ella and my dad and mum and my cousin Tia. CHRISTIAN: Seven to 12 year olds, because teenagers don’t like little kids’ books. RAPHY: For people who are 8 or over. The original animated ﬁlm of Charlotte’s Web came out in 1973. Last year a new version, a combination of live action and computer-generated animation, was ﬁlmed in Greendale, Victoria. It stars Dakota Fanning as Fern and the voices of Julia Roberts (Charlotte), Oprah Winfrey (Gussy the goose), John Cleese (Samuel the sheep), Steve Buscemi (Templeton the rat), Kathy Bates (Bitsy the cow) and Robert Redford (Ike). It’s due for release on 21 December this year. reading group Front row, L-R: Madeleine, Anay, Mikaela, Greta, Maeve Row 2: Jordan, Macdonald, Clementine, Samia Row 3: Patrick, Scarlet, Hannah, Mikhail, Samson, Christian Row 4: Jack, Raphael, Oliver, Paris, RJ, Luke, Gabriella, Cinzia Join in our national reading group discussion! Share your opinions with othergr reading groups from all over the country by joining our reading group discussion. Send us 200 words summarising one of your recent discussions— of any book — by 22 May and we’ll publish an edited selection of the best in our July issue. Don’t forget to include a postal address when you send your summary in, because those selected for publication will receive a package of books as a thank you! If you’d like to join our reading group register, you can register your group online at www.goodreadingmagazine.com.au MAY 2006 ı goodreading 9 By Mac By Cinzia